Scare War!
by Tierra Lancer
Summary: This is a strange one. What if the SD boys had to spend the night in an empty school? What if they were being stalked by unknown assailants? What if Fujima knew a lot of ghost stories? Find out...warning: shounen-ai hints. UPDATE: CHAPTER 5 is up!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its characters are all © Inoue Takehiko, not me. However...Cafe Platty, Spika High, Kentaro, Ryuji, Aoi, Yuki and Nana are all © Tierra and Pleiades. Don't use them, lest Pleiades finds out and makes you disappear mysteriously. Thank you! ^^

**Scare War!**  
by Tierra and Pleiades

  
___

To Whom It May Concern,  
How brave are you?   
12th July  
11:00pm  
Spika High Class 1B  
If you think you've got the guts...come along.  
Whomsoever lasts a night, wins the game. If you survive.

Signed   
Phantom of the Spika

  
Sakuragi sighed, looking from the note in his hand to the ominous looking building in front of him. What was he doing here again? Right. The note.  
It was obviously the Spikans playing some weird trick. Obviously, right? He only knew a few of the students from this new school, mostly through friendly basketball practice games, and he couldn't even remember their names. He shouldn't even be here, but...Haruko had seen the letter when he'd found it and opened it at his locker.  
"Wow, Sakuragi-kun, that sounds like a scare war challenge! It should be lots of fun for you, ne? You're going, right?"  
Sakuragi had nodded, laughing. "Of course! The tensai will never back down from anything! Nyaaaahahahaha!"

It started to rain. Sakuragi ran for the cover of the school, cursing his bad luck. He reached the lobby, fluffing his hair up and getting the dampness out of it. Now for classroom 1B.  
He wandered around the first floor aimlessly for a while, lost and confused. Where was 1B? It was obviously a classroom on the first floor, which was odd in itself, but...  
Wait! He could here distant talking and laughing down one corridor...maybe that was where he was supposed to go? He grinned smugly. The Spikans had obviously realised how cool he was and wanted him to join in one of their wild parties. Well, I don't blame them! He thought proudly. Because I am a tensai!

He pushed the door open and was blinded by the light of a powerful beam torch straight in the face. He backed up, rubbing his eyes. "Na-Nanda, teme wa?!"

"Sakuragi? From Shohoku?"

Sakuragi rubbed his eyes, shielding them from the glare of the beam. "Yeah...who are you?"

The owner of the torch pointed the torch up at his own face and Sakuragi nearly jumped in fright. The things a torch could do when lighting the underside of a face. The face smiled disarmingly, but in the torchlight it looked truly scary. "Fujima da."

Sakuragi scratched his head, then realisation dawned. "Ah, benchwarmer!" The small cogs in his brain turned a little. "You didn't invite me here, did you?" he asked suspiciously.

"No..." Fujima flashed the torch around the room. It landed on several other figures, all looking rather confused. "It looks like a lot of the basketball players have been getting invitations to here, but no-one knows what it's about." He walked to the wall and Sakuragi heard the flicking of the light switch. "And all the power's been disconnected too."

"Sou ka...Who else is here then?"

The torch beam moved to each person in turn. "Hanagata..." The tall, glasses-wearing brunette was leaning against the far wall, staring out the window at the rain, looking very bored. "Sendoh, Koshino and Fukuda all arrived at about the same time..." Said boys were deep in coversation amongst themselves. Koshino threw a glare as the torchbeam got him directly in the eyes. "Also Jin is here, with Maki, over there by the desks, and that shadow in the corner? Hikoichi." The torchlight flashed over the boy in the corner, who was amazingly still scribbling in his notebook, in the dark. He had no light, and yet still...oh well. The mark of a dedicated stalker.

The torchbeam landed on one last person. "And Rukawa's asleep on the floor somewhere over there." Sakuragi frowned. So he'd been invited too. Looks like the Spikans have no taste, he thought.

The door swung open, hitting him in the behind. The torchlight fell on two huge figures. Sakuragi pointed at them. "Oou, Gori and Boss Monkey!" A fist met the top of his head, and he crouched on the floor nursing the lump as Akagi walked past and into the room, Uozumi behind him.

"The hell is going on here?" Akagi growled. A chorus of 'I dunno's came back as a response.

Sakuragi stood up only to get pummelled in the behind by the doorknob again. This time, two torches came around the corner as well, which swept around the room, highlighting everyone in turn. Miyagi's voice cut the semi-darkness. "Hey, Mitsui, look, everyone's here!"

There was a short, uncomfortable silence.

"So, what are we doing here again?" Hanagata asked in a bored tone of voice. Sendoh shrugged, but no-one had the torch on him, so no-one could see. "Judging from the invitation, I think the Spikans are trying to scare us. A challenge of sorts."

A harsh laugh. "Nyaahahaha! No-one can scare the tensai."

"Oh, no? Turn around."

Sakuragi did.

"I am Sadakoooo!"

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Kiyota leaned on the wall laughing, still holding his powerful torch under his face. He had come in through the open door without anyone noticing him. He trailed off, giggling quietly to himself.

Fujima flashed the torch around. Himself, Hanagata, Akagi, Sakuragi, Mitsui, Miyagi, Sendoh, Koshino, Fukuda, Uozumi, Kiyota, Jin and Maki...and Rukawa on the floor somewhere. All in one classroom. This could get a bit interesting, he mused.

He cleared his throat. "Since nothing is about to happen, it seems...I heard a story once, about a cabin in the mountains. One time, a guy went up there all alone..."

___

"Oh yes, you tell those ghost stories, Fujima...and we'll do the rest."

A soft, low chuckle from the shadows of the observation room, lit dimly only by a bunch of TV screens on one of the walls. All showed different rooms in the school, and only one had movement.

Eyes glowed merrily in the darkness.

"You two, stay here, you know when to come in. Yuki, Nana...we have work to do."

A swift movement of black on black, and three wraith-like figures departed.

___

End of Part One

  
Author's Notes:  
This is truly an odd story. Spawned late one night while plotting a real life scare war, Pleiades has been bugging me to write it ever since. She's providing the ideas, and I write the story. This story is just all fun and games, nothing serious whatsoever. Hee. And much stuff inside is composed of obscure inside jokes...but if you're wondering why Kiyota yells "Sadako", it's a reference to the Japanese "Ring" movies.  
Watch out for more, catapulting your way!

~T


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its characters are all © Inoue Takehiko, not me. However...Cafe Platty, Spika High, Kentaro, Ryuji, Aoi, Yuki and Nana are all © Tierra and Pleiades. Don't use them, lest Pleiades finds out and makes you disappear mysteriously. Thank you! ^^

**Scare War! Part 2**

  
___

"...and instead of portraits..."

Fujima looked around wide-eyed at the attentive and nervous circle of basketball players, holding the torch under his face and looking dead serious.

"...there were three windows instead."

The room fell dead silent. The dim light of the torch reflected against the whites of the boys' eyes as they stared at Fujima. Until...

"Haaaahahaha! That wasn't scary at all! Nothing scares the tensai!" The outburst managed to revive Rukawa, amazingly. Strangely loud, Sakuragi nudged Miyagi, who was sitting next to him with an expression of something nearing terror on his face. "Ne, Ryochin?"

"U-un." Miyagi nodded slow agreement, but his gaze darted back and forth, watching the dark corners of the classroom for anything from the boogieman to the Loch Ness Monster to Hikoichi.

Fujima smiled at Sakuragi, the effect made all the more disturbing by his wide-eyed stare and the torchlight. "You don't believe, Sakuragi? You doubt it?"

"Of course!"

Fujima lowered his voice and, just for effect, covered the torch with his hand a little to dim the light. "It's right near here, you know. I've been there. Only once. I saw the windows too."

He felt Hanagata shift closer to him, grabbing his shirtsleeve surreptitiously. Big as the Shoyo center was, he'd never been too sure about the paranormal, and telling these stories was a real surefire way to get him nervous and jumpy. When Hanagata got nervous and jumpy, he got clingy. Fujima liked him when he was clingy.

"It's true, I swear." He nodded seriously. 

"Oh, yeah right!" Koshino cut in, looking irritated and bored. "This is so not scary. Ghosts don't--"

The door creaked open, revealing the dark hallway beyond.

"--exi...st..."

Koshino trailed off, staring fearfully at the still-moving door. All eyes watched the door as if hypnotised, until it was stopped by the wall.

Maki, outwardly impassive, got up and went to the door. He peered around the corner down the dark hall, both ways. Kiyota appeared by his side with his omni-torch, shining the powerful beam down the long tunnel. There was nothing there.

"There's...there's no-one out here."

"Must have been the wind." Maki muttered, puzzled. They rejoined the circle, shifting closer together. Wind or not, a moving door was a moving door, and it was definitely not something that should have happened, not while Fujima was telling his weird stories.

Fujima himself was puzzled, but not disappointed. The moving door had played havoc on Hanagata and the taller boy was now attached like a leech to his best friend's arm. It made Fujima feel all fuzzy and content. 

"You know what we should do?" he asked innocently. "We should split up and explore. We've got nothing better to do. Unless you want another ghost story, that is."

Miyagi, looking quite afraid of the prospect, scooted backwards and stood up, undecided of whether to go and face Fujima's mind-numbingly scary ghost stories or to wander around the school and contend with the forces of darkness. Mitsui stood up decisively. "Well, I'm not staying here, I'm going to find out what the Spikans want. C'mon, Miyagi."

Miyagi, glad for the company, followed Mitsui out of the room, staying as far away from the mysterious moving door as possible.

A few groups broke off to follow the two boys' example, until the only ones left in the room were Fujima, Hanagata, Sakuragi, Hikoichi (who was still diligently taking notes in the corner), Kiyota, and the ever-sleeping Rukawa. Sakuragi was too lazy to go anywhere - in fact, he envied Rukawa for being able to sleep. Kiyota just wanted another chance to scream "Sadako!" again before the night was out. He'd watched the entire Ring series the night before last and this school was reminding him much too closely of Sadako's old school. Rukawa had revived just long enough to crawl into the diminished circle before passing out again on the floor.

Fujima, disappointed but not discouraged, smiled disarmingly before turning off his torch. "It's more fun this way." he said by way of an excuse, happily feeling Hanagata clutch his arm tighter. "Now...I know another story, one that happened right inside Shoyo..."

___

Two classrooms down, three young students hid. Two were dressed in long white robes and immensely long straight black wigs that hid their features. The last was tallest, clad all in black. She smiled.

"You two are dressed to kill. Now go make me proud."

Turning, she addressed the small hidden camera. "Kentaro, Ryuji, Operation: Scare War is commencing."

One of the Sadako-look-alikes smiled. "This is going to be fun."

___

Everyone was pale.

Fujima had decided to relate a heart attack inducing, graphic account of the terrorising and rather gory death of a supposed fellow student. Fujima's eloquence and confidence were legendary, as the young coach often showed on the court. He had no problems getting the team to do what he wanted...or gullible players believing the most unbelievable things.

That little skill was coming in very handy.

"...and blood all streaming down his lifeless face. You could see straight through his chest to the display behind him. The girl just kept screaming and screaming and she couldn't look away..."

He paused for a second and looked around. Even the scratching of Hikoichi's pen had stopped. Everyone was staring at him with various expressions, besides Rukawa. The sky could fall and that boy would not awake. Hanagata and Sakuragi had gone absolutely pale. Kiyota was beyond that - he was looking distinctly green in the torchlight. About halfway through Fujima's story he'd switched his omnitorch on, 'just so Hikoichi can see what he's writing'.

Speaking of Hikoichi...

"Oi." Sakuragi spoke up. Even he was getting nervous. "Where'd Hikoichi go?"

Kiyota shone his torch into the corner where Hikoichi had been residing. The redhead was right - the boy had disappeared altogether. Kiyota whimpered.

Fujima shrugged, leaning against Hanagata. "Who cares. Probably off chasing Sendoh. Now where was I? Oh yes. So this girl is just screaming. The puddle of blood on the floor suddenly--"

He was interrupted by Kiyota suddenly standing up. He was looking very ill now. "Uh...I-I-I'm gonna go and explore the...yeah, I'm gonna go...anyone wanna come?"

Fujima smiled disarmingly. "Sure, I will!"

Kiyota backed away, waving the torch frantically. "No! Stay away from me! Aaaaah!" He backed against the wall, hugging the torch closely and looking at the smiling brunette with fear in his eyes. Sakuragi stood up. "Well, since I can see you're still a baby, this tensai will go with you! Hahaha!" Truth was, Sakuragi didn't know how much of this story he could take either.

Kiyota wasn't complaining - he was too eager to get away from Fujima's reign of terror to care much about what Sakuragi said. They all but ran out of the room, relieved to get away.

Fujima smiled with satisfaction. "Well, all that talking made me thirsty. What say you and me find the water fountains, To--...Hanagata?"

"U-un." The tall boy nodded, still staring at the spot where Hikoichi used to be, staying very close to Fujima as they walked away.

Leaving Rukawa alone.

All alone.

___

The silence outside was deafening. 

Kiyota led the way nervously, because he had the torch. Besides, if something attacked from behind, they'd have to get through Sakuragi first. Ample time for Kiyota to go sprinting away down the corridor.

Their footsteps were muted as they tried to go as silently as they could down the corridor. "Hey, wild monkey." Sakuragi whispered, as if awed by the silence. "What are we looking for?"

"I-I dunno...anything helpful?"

"Like?"

"What, I'm supposed to have the answers to everything?" Kiyota was getting irritable. He'd thought he'd heard something down the corridor and having Sakuragi throwing out questions - all two of them - was annoying him. 

Kiyota felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising and turned around, flashing the torch to the corridor behind Sakuragi. Sakuragi turned too. The light illuminated only empty corridor.

"Nanda, wild monkey...just trying to scare me..."

"Shut up!" he hissed. He kept the torch trained behind Sakuragi, inching backwards. He could hear it now - soft, shifting noises, of cloth on cloth...a soft whispering, an unearthly sound...

His back touched something warm. Something big. Something alive.

"KAMISAMA TASUKETE YO~~~~!"

"AAAAAAAAH I'M GONNA DIE!"

Kiyota was screaming bloody murder until he realised somebody else was too. Sakuragi, though pale from the shock, looked relieved. Kiyota turned around and his face met the welcome sight of Jin and Maki. Maki had an expression of extreme fear on his face and had grabbed Jin in terror, managing to lift the startled boy a good five inches off the floor. The Kainan captain, realising that the longer he held Jin the more of an idiot he looked, dropped Jin with a quiet embarrassed "Suman...".

Sakuragi recovered quickly and pointed at the three Kainan players, laughing. "Hahaha, what a bunch of scaredy cats you Kainans are! Hahaha! C'mon, let's go! Gimme the torch, wild monkey!" He grabbed the torch from Kiyota and set off, still giggling to himself. Maki and Jin followed, and Kiyota brought up the rear, still flushed at screaming.

A little further down the corridor, there was a mirror at the intersection between this corridor and another leading into it. Sakuragi stopped at it, playing games by reflecting the torch off it. Maki and Jin stared at it, confused.

"Funny, I could swear that wasn't here when we walked up here last." Jin said, puzzled. Maki shook his head and urged Sakuragi forward.

Kiyota stopped at the mirror, looking into it. He could see all the way down the corridor, could see the moonlight from the windows far down it. He grinned at himself in the mirror. Damn, but I'm good-looking, he thought, smoothing his wild hair back and winking at his reflection. He posed a few times happily. Everyone digs me.

He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw something pass by the far end of the corridor. "Eh?" He peered closely at the mirror, a little shaken. No, he couldn't have seen anything, right? Because there was no such thing as Sadako, or creatures of the night, or anything like that.

"Oi, wild monkey." Sakuragi appeared at his shoulder. He was sans flashlight - Maki had insisted he be the one who should carry it, and had gone ahead with Jin. "You coming or not?" He peered at the mirror. "What, your own reflection scaring you? I mean, I can see why, but still..."

"Hey!" Kiyota glared at Sakuragi's reflection, pouting a little. "I look cool, alright? You look like some reject from the army."

"Hey, don't insult this tensai! At least I don't look like a fern."

"Oh please, you look like a lawnmower went medieval on your head."

"Oh, yeah?! Monkey god!"

"Billiard ball!"

"Hey, I look better than you!" Sakuragi flexed his arm, showing off his bicep in the mirror. "See that muscle? The girls love me."

Kiyota posed, turning in front of the mirror and looking over his shoulder at himself. "Check this out. Who would not like some of this?"

It could only have been luck that made them both glance at the reflection of the far end of the corridor in the mirror at precisely the same time. Or perhaps a higher force prompted them to. As they did, they saw someone appear, moving with short, slow jerking steps. Someone with a long flowing dress and long unkempt black hair.

As they watched, the figure stopped.

And with agonising slowness, it turned to face them. They couldn't see its face.

But they knew it saw them.

It SAW them.

And then it moved away slowly, down the corridor, out of sight.

To their credit, they were only frozen for a second or two.

"Sa...sa...sa...da...SADAKO DA! MAKI-SAAAAAN!"

___

End of Part Two

  
Author's Notes:  
Another instalment of this weird account. This is getting stranger. What will happen next? Hmm...oh, and a cookie to anyone who can figure out what ghost story Fujima had just finished telling at the start of this chapter. ^^  
Thanks to Pleiades for bugging me until I wrote this. Yes, I know there are way too many Ring references but...I couldn't resist. Oh, and I gotta say, meganes DO rule. Yeah.

Oh yes, I should have mentioned this earlier too...for those who are completely lost by the continual 'Sadako' references, Sadako is the evil dead woman thing in the Japanese horror movie 'Ring'. She appears in a strange videotape and a week later, anyone who watched that tape dies of unknown reasons. She wears white and her face is covered by her long black hair. Cool? Cool. 

~T


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its characters are all © Inoue Takehiko, not me. However...Cafe Platty, Spika High, Kentaro, Ryuji, Aoi, Yuki and Nana are all © Tierra and Pleiades. Don't use them, lest Pleiades finds out and makes you disappear mysteriously. Thank you! ^^

**Scare War! Part 3**

  
___

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the building...

Sendoh kept his left hand on the wall, feeling the texture change every time he reached a door. He was leading his little troop - himself, Koshino, and Fukuda - into the unknown regions and depths of the school, and yet he had no idea why. They were trying to find out why they were here. That's right, they were on a quest! A noble adventure into the uncharted depths of Spika High. However, the lack of a torch in their group was a severe disadvantage. Not only that, but they weren't near any windows either, so there was no moonlight to aid them.

His two followers seemed to have noticed the same problem and appeared a lot more concerned than Sendoh was. Both were sticking close to their unofficial leader. Fukuda appeared quite normal, besides the fact that he appeared to be sweating as if he'd just come off the court. Koshino was being more...Koshino than usual. His insistent muttering, Fukuda's sudden tendency to jump at small noises, and their utter closeness to Sendoh were all combining to make Sendoh feel a little more than claustrophobic.

"Hey, guys..." He turned to smile at them. "Could you please...move away a bit? I feel like I've got a few more shadows than I should have."

"Fine!" Koshino muttered, unwilling to leave Sendoh's side but still moving a few feet away. "But if I die a horrible death, I'm blaming you."

Sendoh nodded. "That's fine. Now, off we go again!"

___

"So...where are we again?"

"Koshino, if I knew that, I'd be more than happy to answer."

Fukuda looked around. "I don't remember this place." He indicated the windows with a slight jerk of his head. "At least there's light to see by here, though."

Koshino sighed irritably and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. Fukuda occupied himself with tracing patterns on the windows. "Well, I vote we wait here until somebody finds us." Koshino said. "Since somebody was good enough to get us lost in here." He shot a glare in the direction of his spikey-haired friend.

Sendoh smiled back indulgently. Koshino was so cute when he was angry. "Hey, it's not like I asked to be leader." he answered, pretending to be hurt. Koshino looked away huffily. Sendoh chuckled and leant on the wall near his friend, looking out the window at the Spika High school grounds. The moonlight illuminated the grounds nicely, creating an almost unearthly effect, blurring the outlines of trees, buildings, and sky, merging it all. Sendoh smiled happily. He liked the pretty things in life: a nice landscape, ice-cream, the stars, fishing, Koshino...

His happy day - night? - dreams were interrupted when he became aware of something attached to his leg. Looking down, he was surprised to see Koshino had wrapped both arms around his left leg and was staring rather fixedly at one of the nearby classrooms, near where they had entered the corridor.

"Ne...what's wrong, Koshino?"

"I...I thought I saw something move." Koshino answered tensely, arms still glued to Sendoh's leg, trying to hide behind Sendoh on the floor. Fukuda, as if by magic, appeared near Koshino's side, staring tensely in the same direction. "Where?"

Koshino loosened one arm from Sendoh's leg long enough to point a shaky figure in the direction of the shadowed classroom before reattaching himself to the taller boy. "Over there...I s-swear I saw something..."

And deep in the shadows, something moved.

Sendoh was now completely anchored to the floor, because Fukuda had decided to join in the fun and had attached both arms around his right leg. He looked almost like a giant octopus with hair, Sendoh mused, looking down at his two friends. He glanced back at the shadows blankly. Sure, something had moved in the shadows, but it could have been anything! A walking science model, a rat, an alien...it didn't have to be something scary, right? Of course not!

A figure materialised from the shadows.

Fukuda went white and shut his eyes. Koshino buried his face in the crook of Sendoh's knee.

"What's up with you two?" Sendoh asked quizzically. "It's just Hikoichi."

Sure enough, the area's resident stalker was busy scribbling in his notepad. He looked up and stared silently at the...admittedly strange position the three boys were in. "I'm...not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked, gaze roving from Koshino, to Sendoh, to Fukuda, then to his notebook.

No answer came from the three. Hikoichi looked up quizzically.

All three looked fairly stricken. Fukuda's eyes had grown to the size of dinner plates - no mean feat where he was concerned. Koshino still appeared to be burying his face into Sendoh's leg. Sendoh was just staring at Hikoichi. Or, more specifically, a point behind him.

"What's wrong?"

Koshino let out a high-pitched squeak, incapable of movement.

Hikoichi never would have realised why they were staring at him so intensely had it not been for the prickling sensation on the back of his neck. Well, perhaps more obviously, the gentle touch of...something...sliding from his shoulder down his arm from behind.

He looked down at it.

It was a hand. A pale, black-fingered hand.

It was attached to an arm in a big, white, kimono sleeve.

He turned, following the arm with his eyes. It hit a shoulder, a pale neck, and then...a white face, obscured by long, unkempt black hair.

Perhpas not completely obscured. The boy could see, beneath one of the fringes, an eye. A wide, red eye. 

Watching him.

Hikoichi squeaked. Stuttered. Stumbled backwards a few steps. And finally took off down the corridor, screaming.

Sendoh, on the other hand, couldn't move. Koshino and Fukuda had a foot each. All three were rooted to the spot. The figure turned to them and slowly raised her hands.

Piercing screams and rapid footsteps echoed loudly around the school.

___

As soon as the footsteps had faded away, the spectre began to giggle and bounce on the balls of her feet. Success! She gathered the kimono away from her feet - the damned thing was too long, that was the problem - and scurried off down the opposite corridor.

___

"This school is too damn big." 

Hanagata and Fujima, on their journey to the water fountain, had run into Akagi and Uozumi on the way back, and coerced them into joining their little party. Hanagata was muttering to himself.

"I can see why people think this place has ghosts, I mean, look at it, you'd get lost just trying to find your classroom--"

Fujima poked him in the side. "Stop bellyaching, here's the water fountain." He pressed the button on the side and braced himself for the stream of cold water. 

Nothing came out. He blinked and pressed the button a few more times, and all he could get form the machine was a click every time he released the button.

Hanagata peered over his shoulder. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know...it's not working." Fujima stared accusingly at Akagi and Uozumi, who were conversing in quiet 'ookookook's in the background. "Why didn't you guys say it wasn't working? You could have told me."

"What?" Akagi walked over and punched the button a few times. Sure enough, nothing came out. "That's odd. It was working when we were here." He looked at Uozumi, who nodded confirmation.

Fujima noticed Hanagata looking around nervously and smiled, moving to comfort his friend. "Aww, c'mon, they must have just cut off the water temporarily, or for the night, or something like that. What, you think that someone came here and cut it off? There's no-one here but us."

"B-But--"

"Nono, listen. There are no ghosts. Only us."

Fine time for them to hear screams echoing from somewhere on the school's campus. The screams died away slowly, leaving silence.

The four boys looked at each other with shocked expressions.

And finally, a lone shriek of terror.

And again, silence.

Fujima was the first to move, his natural leadership coming to the fore. "That came from somewhere near the class we started in. Come on."

And he was off, followed closely by a rather reluctant and terrified Hanagata and the two stoic captains. Something weird was going on here, be it ghosts or pranks, and Fujima was determined to figure it out.

___

End of Part Three

  
Author's Notes:  
O.O   
Wow, it took me a long time to get this one done and dusted. School was putting the pressure on me, and the first draft of this wasn't exactly terrific, so I re-did it. Now it's the summer holidays, and Pleiades, my partner-in-crime, is off vacationing in Japan, the lucky sod.  
Anyway, apologies for the long long wait for this.  
Now for the standard teasers for next time: What has happened to the rest of the boys? Who's bloodcurdling scream did Fujima and co. have the misfortune to hear? And who will be lucky enough to survive a night at Spika High? Stay tuned!

~T


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its characters are all © Inoue Takehiko, not me. However...Cafe Platty, Spika High, Kentaro, Ryuji, Aoi, Yuki and Nana are all © Tierra and Pleiades. Don't use them, lest Pleiades finds out and makes you disappear mysteriously. Thank you! 

**Scare War! Part 4**

  
---

The screams of the basketball boys sounded all over the huge campus of Spika High.

Loud enough to wake the dead.

Miyagi shivered. Who was the sick person who came up with a phrase like that, anyway?

He and his travelling partner, Mitsui, paused in their tracks as the shrieks echoed down the hallway they were in, bouncing off the walls and becoming magnified to a terrifying level. Miyagi, clutching his small torch in one hand, shivered and drew away from the moonlight streaming through the windows, breaking into a fast trot to catch up with his taller team-mate. "Wh-what's all that screaming?"

Miyagi jumped as Mitsui suddenly began laughing, the sound chasing the screams out of the hallway. "Hahaha! They're just jumping at noises and running from shadows! Cowards!" He strode off, arms akimbo, his laughter coming just a little too loudly to be genuine. Maybe it was just the echo, of course.

However, Miyagi didn't want to look like a coward in front of Mitsui and jogged to catch up with him, forcing a loud laugh as he reached Mitsui's side but carefully keeping Mitsui between himself and the window, where any strange attack would probably come from. Not that he was scared, of course.

They continued at a slow trot, their conversation starting and stopping sporadically, mostly about their "scaredy-cat" teammates. Miyagi blurted out almost any comment that he could think of and infallibly agreed with everything Mitsui said, masking his fear without knowing that Mitsui was doing exactly the same.

"Haha, I can't believe they're so scared...there's nothing here!"

"Yeah, just wind and stuff. I can't believe they still believe in ghosts!"

"Ooh, haha, look out Miyagi, the boogieman's going to get you!"

"Oh, you're talking about yourself...look out, a ghost is coming through the window, hahaha!"

Out of reflex, Mitsui glanced out the window as Miyagi mentioned it.

And screamed.

Loudly.

Miyagi didn't even have time to jump before Mitsui had ducked behind him and pushed the shorter boy between himself and the window. Miyagi didn't even know what it was that Mitsui was screaming at, and it was this fear of the unknown that made him turn from the window and bury his head into Mitsui's shoulder, refusing on all accounts to even look out the window. Really, fear.

One of Mitsui's arms was around him, and the other was shielding Mitsui's own face from whatever terror it was that he had seen outside. The halls were absolutely silent - even the echoes of the screams had faded. The pair remained still, trembling, until Miyagi finally plucked up the courage to ask: "Wh-what is it?"

"I...don't know," came the tense reply. "I saw...something white. On the lawn. I-I-I-I think it was looking at me!"

Miyagi summoned up all of his considerable bravery and pulled his face away from Mitsui, turning very slowly towards the window, dreading what he would see there, his legs poised to take him off at a screaming run if anything from a chipmunk to Godzilla was moving around out there.

He saw nothing.

The rolling grounds were illuminated by the moonlight. Trees lined the covered walkways between buildings. But nothing even vaguely white. Much less with a face with which to stare at Mitsui.

"I-Is there anything there?"

"...no."

"What?!" Mitsui lowered his arm and opened his eyes, staring at the empty grounds. "B-B-But I swear--"

Fumbling with his torch, Miyagi flicked it on and pointed it at the window. It didn't help much, but Miyagi shoved Mitsui away anyway, laughing with relief. Nothing. All that panic for nothing. "Oh man, that was a risky trick to pull, Mitsui."

"But I saw something!" Mitsui was still searching the grounds with his eyes, torn between relief and a need to prove that he wasn't lying.

Miyagi eyed him, amused. "Wearing white and staring at you. You sure it wasn't your reflection in the window?"

"Well--"

"Or the moonlight or something? Or your imagination?"

"I guess..." Mitsui scratched the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "I'm as bad as the rest of them, aren't I? Jumping at shadows." He glanced out the window from the corner of his eye and laughed. "It must be my eyes, I should get them checked. I keep seeing something white out there."

Miyagi laughed. "Scaredy cat..." he teased good-naturedly, ducking out of Mitsui's range in case of retaliation. He turned to look back at the older boy, and as he did, he too glimpsed the view outside the window for a split-second. 

Silently, he took off at a dead run away from Mitsui down the corridor.

Mitsui called after him, surprised by his companion's sudden behaviour. "Hey, I won't hit you that hard!" He glanced out the window nervously again. There was nothing there. Maybe it was his breath? He shrugged and began to walk after Miyagi, shooting one last look at the window as he laughed to himself.

He screamed, dropped his torch, and took off after his companion.

Looking at him from the bottom of the window, peering over the sill, was a pale white face with big white eyes. No pupils. And a wide grin. A big, literally ear-to-ear grin. 

He didn't have to see anything else, really. 

"HahahahaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

-----

Mitsui finally caught up with Miyagi, who was leaning against a door frame, his knees trembling visibly. Though terrified, Mitsui still managed to gloat.

"See? See? Didn't I tell you? Now who's a scaredy cat? You know how fast you were running?"

Miyagi shot him a glare. "That's because I'm a naturally fast runner!" he said loftily, pushing off the doorframe and casting wide-eyed looks at the windows, searching the grounds outside for the wide-mouthed eyeless terror. There was no sign of it. Nevertheless, he was going to keep a weather eye on the window - no telling what could be out there besides that...thing.

Adrenalin from the scare and the sprint was still coursing through Mitsui's veins. That and Miyagi's retort spurred him into one of his favourite pastimes - teasing the short runner. "Yeah...I'm sure...chicken."

"Hey, don't insult me, I didn't see you slowing down to meet that...thingie!" 

"How could you tell, you didn't even turn your head to check..."

"Yeah, well...well...well..."

"Well well well? Three holes in the ground?"

The pointless banter went back and forth. It evolved slowly into pokes and nudges, and eventually became something that had the makings of a good rousing fistfight. However, the boys were soon distracted as they rounded a corner.

"Ooh, look, a water dispenser."

Needless to say, both boys were very easily sidetracked.

"Great!"

Miyagi checked the cup dispenser attached to it. "It's out of cups..."

"So? Let's just use our hands. Who's gonna know?" Mitsui tucked one hand under the tap and pushed the handle down. A stream of water poured out into his cupped hand and he yelped, drawing his hand back quickly and spraying water everywhere. "Ahh, that's cold! What is in there, ice?"

Miyagi brushed off his dripping shorts and frowned. "Wow, thanks a lot, man." He, too, tested the water and shivered, wiping his hand absent-mindedly on Mitsui's sleeve. Mitsui didn't seem to notice. "I wonder if they have any spare cups anywhere?" He glanced up and down the corridor, which opened up into a large common area decorated by plants and seats, undoubtedly for students in the daytime. Miyagi wondered what kind of student would be so desperate as to want to go to this terrifying school. "Come on...I think I can see stairs over there." The dim outline of a sterile-looking staircase led up into the dark recesses of the second floor.

The pair scampered quickly across the moonlight-dappled floor of the common room, towards the stairs. Miyagi got to them first and looked up apprehensively. The stairs faded ominously into darkness - he could barely make out where they opened out into the second floor. 

"Well? Are we going up or what?" Mitsui's voice came from behind him. Miyagi swallowed nervously, until he thought of the teasing he would be subject to if he didn't go upstairs. This thought steeled his nerves and he set his foot on the first step. Nothing happened. His confidence grew and he continued apprehensively up the stairs, a step at a time, hearing Mitsui's soft steps behind him. He fumbled with the torch in his hand and flicked it on, but it blinked and died - out of batteries. What luck.

They reached the second floor and peered down the hall. It was a lot longer than the ones on the first floor, unbroken by any common areas. A door stood ajar to their left. Inside, all was darkness. Miyagi stepped to the door tentatively and read the sign. "Science Lab."

"Is it?" Mitsui peered round the door, licking his lips nervously. As his eyes adjusted, he could see very dim outlines of things lying around rather haphazardly. He nudged Miyagi. "Hey, maybe we can get beakers in here, for the water machine."

Before the younger boy could protest, Mitsui pulled his shirt and he stumbled off balance, into the room.

Inside, all was silent and unmoving. This was a blessing - no movement meant nothing that could leap on them and suck their blood out. Mitsui felt along the wall and his hand touched the light switch. He tried it without success. "Damn, the lights aren't working. How's your torch?"

The faint sound of Miyagi hitting his torch with his palm reached his ears. "Still dead."

Mitsui turned to his friend's voice and stepped forward carefully, his hands outstretched slightly until he felt the fabric of Miyagi's shirt. "Oh, there you are."

Miyagi continued to hit the torch. "Useless piece of junk--"

Suddenly, the small hand-held torch threw out a weak, flickering beam. Miyagi and Mitsui glanced up.

It illuminated a face. Half the face was that of a normal man, smiling calmly. The left half was horrible. It was as if someone had peeled the skin off the face roughly, exposing every last muscle and piece of bone. The big blue eye stared lifelessly from its eye socket into space. The mouth was locked open in a hideous, twisted grin, the ivory teeth reflecting the torch's weak light. The nose was an empty, upturned hollow. The top half of the head was carved away, revealing a shiny pink brain.

The terrified shrieking went on for quite a long time this time. Miyagi dropped the torch and it went out, but it didn't stop the screaming.

However, slowly, the screaming faded out. As far as they could tell, the face wasn't moving. Nothing was jumping on them out of the dark.

"M-M-Miyagi..."

"W-What?"

"It's...It's a science model."

Mitsui was right. The face belonged to a model of a human being, showing the organs, muscles and bone structure of the inside of the human body. It continued to stare straight forward, unseeing, unblinking. It was no longer a threat.

"L-Let's just get the damn beakers and get out of here," Miyagi whispered nervously. 

Mitsui nodded in agreement, but realised that Miyagi probably couldn't see him. "Y-yeah."

They began to search, but it was hard without the aid of light, and neither boy was willing to search for the torch in the dark recesses of the floor. They stayed quite close to each other, unwilling to wonder off alone to face whatever horrible secrets there were in the science room.

"H-Hey, Miyagi, over here!" Mitsui had found a shelf full of beakers near the corner of the room.

Miyagi made his way over gingerly, stubbing his toe on the desk as he went and cursing softly. "Great, let's just grab a few and get the hell out of here, I'm sick of this stupid school. I can't believe I even read that invitation."

"You're telling me."

It took a few minutes to find some decent-sized beakers - they seemed to have all sorts of things on the shelf. Neither boy wanted to think about what might be inside the full beakers and boxes that were stacked up. Finally, they found some satisfactory glass beakers.

"At last...this place is making me really nervous." On an impulse, Miyagi reached out for Mitsui's hand and grabbed it for reassurance. Pride had gone out the window - this place was just too scary.

Mitsui felt Miyagi's hand bump against his and grabbed it. It made him feel a little better. "Okay, the door is just along this wall here." He tugged Miyagi towards the door. "Let's hurry and go."

They moved forward.

There was a soft rattle.

"Wh-what was that?!"

They paused and listened. Nothing.

"This place is playing tricks on us." Mitsui continued forward, pulling Miyagi along carefully. No rattles came. "Your hand is really cold," he muttered, more to distract the two of them than for any real conversational value.

"My hand? What about yours? Yours is freezing!" Miyagi stumbled blindly, edging sideways towards the door. "And have you been ill? You're kind of thin..."

"No, not recently..."

They pushed open the door to the corridor and stepped out. The moon was out and lit up the corridor, giving them a good view down onto the school grounds.

Unfortunately for the two boys, it also made the windows rather reflective. Reflective enough for them to see that they weren't holding each others' hands. Reflective enough to reveal the off-white skeletons that they had grabbed in the dark of the science room and mistaken for each other. The skeletons' free hands were joined, making the four of them look like some macabre version of "The Wizard of Oz".

Things happened very quickly after that. Mitsui dropped the hand of his skeleton and bolted for the stairs. He had gone very pale. Miyagi, too, dropped the hand of his skeleton and whipped around, a little more vocally than Mitsui. "HEEEEELP!" By accident or design, as Miyagi dropped his skeleton's hand it hooked quite neatly into his belt loop and so the two skeletons were taken along for the ride, the wheels on their stands squeaking in protest.

It probably would have been funny if it weren't so scary.

Mitsui glanced back at Miyagi and shrieked, pointing wordlessly before tripping over his own feet. He fell heavily and skidded across the floor, a little dazed. However, he quickly recovered and began to scramble backwards away from Miyagi, continuing his wordless pointing and mouthing.

Miyagi was gaining on him quickly, but began to slow, trying to make out what Mitsui was saying.

Mitsui suddenly found his coherant voice. "LOOK BEHIND YOU!" he bellowed, eyes wide and frightened.

Miyagi turned swiftly on reflex. The skeletons whipped around with him - one detached and collapsed neatly on Mitsui's prone form, eliciting a fresh outburst and struggle to free himself from the tangled bone monster. The other remained hooked to Miyagi's pants. He caught a glimpse of this second monstrosity and began running in tight circles like a headless chicken, waving his arms frantically. "Get it off me! GET IT OFF ME!" It continued to chase him like a shadow, its bones rattling a symphony of horror.

Inevitably, he slipped.

Skeleton fell on boy fell on skeleton already on boy. Mitsui had the wind knocked out of him by a flailing Miyagi, who was still trying desperately to get the skeleton away from him, and now off him. It was a bizarre four-layer boy-skeleton sandwich.

Truly odd things were happening in the school tonight.

__

End of Part Four

Author's Notes:  
Haha, finally, the long-awaited Chapter Four! :P I promise I will never take a hiatus this long again - the guilt is too much to bear. The other four chapters will be up a lot sooner than this one, that's for damn sure. Apologies again for how long this took me. Bleugh.  
Now the teaser questions! What other situations will Miyagi and Mitsui find themselves in? Who is truly behind all this? And where is Rukawa while all this is happening? Stay tuned - if you can wait long enough :P - for Chapter 5!

~T


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Slam Dunk and its characters are all © Inoue Takehiko, not me. However...Cafe Platty, Spika High, Kentaro, Ryuji, Aoi, Yuki and Nana are all © Tierra and Pleiades. Don't use them, lest Pleiades finds out and makes you disappear mysteriously. Thank you! 

**Scare War! Part 5**  
  
Rukawa Kaede was still asleep. Predictably.

It was very nice, this school. He liked it. Very quiet and dark. Perfect for a good nap.

He was too deep in sleep to realise that he was, in fact, alone. Very alone.

...Or was he?

Not that he noticed, of course. He was having a dream. It was a good dream. He was dreaming that he was...sleeping. Yes, sleeping, on a white cloud. No, it was a pink cloud. He was cruising through the air on his fluffy pink cloud, wafted by cold night air. Above him, the stars held up the cloak of the night sky. He breathed in deeply and sighed, in his dream and in real life. Sleep was good.

A fairy appeared in his dream, wafting its iridescent wings slowly. Its long, candy-floss hair streamed out behind it, also pink. Slowly, it extended an elegant, long-fingered hand and began to stroke Rukawa's hair.

Slowly, Rukawa could feel himself coming out of the dream into the dark, cold-floored realm of real life. He mumbled under his breath and tried to make his arms more comfortable, snuggling his head down on them. But it was no use - whoever it was was still stroking his head. He felt a little puzzled, but he was still too sleepy to figure out why.

The world began to come into focus - it was very fuzzy at first, but slowly objects began gaining sharper outlines.

Rukawa blinked once. Twice. His vision was obscured by a white wall. Only it couldn't have been the wall. It was moving - only slightly, like it was being blown by a gentle breeze, but it was indeed moving. Strange. Walls shouldn't move. Was he still dreaming? That might explain why the fairy was still stroking his head.

There was a slight gasp of surprise above him as he shifted slightly, to get a better look at the fairy. Only - he wasn't sure - the fairy didn't have candyfloss hair and a shimmering dress anymore. It had become a girl - he was fairly sure it was a girl - all in white, with black hair. Hmm. How strange.

This strange girl seemed quite surprised to see him and pushed away from him as he tried sleepily to prop himself up on one elbow, whimpering sleepily. Hurriedly, she pushed something into his free hand and jumped up. She almost slipped on her long white dress scrambling for the door before she disappeared around the corner.

Rukawa didn't have the energy to chase her. He flopped onto his back and began to doze again.

Meanwhile, below Rukawa's window... "Dammit, Nana, he saw you! Why did you wake him up?"

"I didn't! Well, I wasn't trying to! He got the thing, right?"

"Why'd he wake up, then?"

"I was moving his hair..."

"What?! Why?"

"...I wanted to put the thing up his nose."

"...hehehe, hmm, that could have worked...oh, oh, I hear something inside! Shh! Shh! Where's the remote?"

Rukawa squinched his eyes as the moon came out from behind the clouds, throwing an unfriendly beam of light right on the poor boy. He rolled this way, but the light was still there. He rolled that way, but not only was the light still there, but he rolled on something uncomfortable and knobbly. Couldn't he get any sleep anywhere? Why did everyone insist on bothering him?

Forced awake, he sat up, reaching behind him moodily. He was in a supreme bad temper. His hand closed around whatever he'd been asleep on and wrenched it around into his view.

It was a hand.

Rukawa did not see anything wrong with this. A hand had gone around behind him to grab whatever he'd been laying on, and a hand had come back. Well, that wasn't quite right. Two hands had come back. One was his own hand. The other hand wasn't attached to an arm, and from its state he assumed that whoever chopped it off was trying to make as messy a job as possible. It was, after all, bleeding all over him.

There was a long pause as Rukawa tried to comprehend just what he was holding.

The dismembered hand's middle finger twitched a bit and began to scratch his palm.

"EEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Rukawa's piercing scream echoed throughout the hallways as he threw his hands up in a desperate attempt to get the offending article off him. It landed on the floor nearby, on its back.

He sat, as if mesmerised, as the hand waved its fingers desperately in the air, like a bug that was trying to right itself. It swayed this way and that in a macabre dance.

Slowly, as he watched, it arched its fingers back and jerked its thumb, flipping itself upright deftly.

Slowly, as he watched, it began a slow, inexorable crawl towards him.

Silently, a grin of terror on his face, Rukawa lunged forwards and grabbed the hand by the wrist, feeling the dry, rubbery skin, feeling the fingers twitching rapidly as it suddenly left the floor. He whipped around and, with all his considerable strength, flung the disembodied hand out the window.

He stood in the middle of the room, his legs trembling, staring at a point on the floor. His hands were clenched. He had won. No surprise there, of course. He always won.

Imagine his surprise when the hand flew back through the window and caught him full in the face and latched on.

Rukawa couldn't deal with this new development with his usual stoic facade.

"OHMIGODGETITOFFMEEEEE!"

He took off running, straight into the tables and chairs that littered the dark classroom. The hand was twitching against his face and he couldn't see past it, and more than once he went knees-first into a hard piece of furniture.

This hectic display went on for quite some time before he had the presence of mind to wrench the hand off his face. This time, he was going to destroy the damn thing. With a superhuman strength born of fear, Rukawa threw the hand as hard as he could against the classroom wall. It crashed through the glass of the window between the class and the hall, and disappeared into the darkness beyond.

Outside...

"Nice catch, Aoi."

"I think his stupid throw broke my hand. Bloody basketball player."

"You threw it back pretty well, I think it landed right on his face..."

"Wish I never caught the damn thing. Come on, I hear voices coming, I hope Ryuji picked up the hand inside."

Kiyota's sneakers squeaked as he walked down the hallway. He had been elected to go in front because of the amazing power of his torch, which cast a laser-like beam down the hallway. Suddenly, as he walked, he felt something crunching underfoot. Praying fervently that he wasn't standing on bones or millions of bugs or something, Kiyota shone the torch beam down apprehensively, where it glinted off a million pieces of shattered glass. He felt Sakuragi, Maki and Jin all crowding around his shoulders as they looked down at the glass. "What the..."

"Hey guys!"

"Nyuh!" With a starled gasp, Kiyota jerked his torch up, highlighting Sendoh's blinded but still grinning face. Koshino was attached to his arm like a limpet. Kiyota could make out Fukuda and Hikoichi standing behind him, looking nervously over their shoulders for something that wasn't there.

"Hey, we heard someone screaming, so we came back here...was it you?"

"No man, you?"

"Wasn't any of us..."

"Really? You look like you're lying."

"You dare call me a liar?!"

"Yes!"

"You are lying, man! You screamed like hell!"

"What?! Oh, and I guess you were super-quiet, huh?!"

Maki could see at least two different fist-fights brewing, both involving Sakuragi. He cleared his throat. "Well, now that we're here, we may as well stick together."

Sakuragi nodded, glaring daggers at Koshino and Kiyota. "Yes, good idea. Glad I thought of it." He looked around. "Hey, where is--"

"You guys are so noisy."

As on edge as all of them were, credit must be given to them for not screaming as the blood-covered Rukawa appeared in the doorway, scratching his head. He was watching the floor, for some reason.

They stared at him for a while. He noticed their disbelieving stares. "...what?"

"Hey...your shirt...it-it has blood on it..."

Rukawa looked down at his shirt. It was indeed stained with red. It brought back unwanted memories...but for now, he had to fool the others into thinking he hadn't been attacked by a phantom hand and hadn't screamed, or they would all make fun of him. "I...uh...killed a squirrel."

The fact that most of the boys were relieved by such an explanation should have made Rukawa uneasy, had he been paying much attention. But then, he never really paid much attention.

Maki looked around. "Wh...Where are the others, anyway?"

End of Part Five  
  
Author's Notes:  
Having fun everyone? Not the best chapter I've done, but I had fun poking fun at Rukawa, plus I really want to write the next chapter...anyway! The rest of the story is already in the works, so hopefully I won't take so long...yeah right...  
Right, now for the compulsory teaser questions...what will happen to our intrepid heroes? Will the Spikans get what's coming to them? Just where ARE the others? Find out in the next hair-raising episode of...Scare War!

T  
  



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